I thought that after they had done all this, they would return to me. But they did not. Their sister nation Judah saw them doing this. And they were not faithful to me either.

她行这些事以后，我说她必归向我，她却不归向我。她奸诈的妹妹犹大也看见了。

我说：‘她行这些事以后会回转归向我’，她却不回转。她奸诈的妹妹犹大也看见了。

我说：‘她行这些事以后会回转归向我’，她却不回转。她奸诈的妹妹犹大也看见了。

我以为她放纵之后会回到我身边，她却执迷不悟。她不忠的妹妹犹大也看见了这事。

我以为她作了这些事以后，就必回转过来，可是她没有回转。她诡诈的妹妹犹大也看见了。

她行這些事以後，我說她必歸向我，她卻不歸向我。她奸詐的妹妹猶大也看見了。

我說：『她行這些事以後會回轉歸向我』，她卻不回轉。她奸詐的妹妹猶大也看見了。

我說：『她行這些事以後會回轉歸向我』，她卻不回轉。她奸詐的妹妹猶大也看見了。

我以為她放縱之後會回到我身邊，她卻執迷不悟。她不忠的妹妹猶大也看見了這事。

我以為她作了這些事以後，就必回轉過來，可是她沒有回轉。她詭詐的妹妹猶大也看見了。

我心裏說：「她行了這些事以後，一定會轉回來歸於我」；她卻沒有轉回來；她詭詐的妹妹猶大也看見了。

我曰、彼行此事、後必歸我、惟彼不歸、其詭譎之妹猶大見之矣、

我見其所為、欲其歸誠、惟彼不從、其與猶大族、親若姊妹、猶大族效尤、屢欺侮予。

彼行此後、我命之曰、爾當歸誠於我、惟彼不從、悖逆之猶大與以色列有若姊妹、此事猶大亦見之、

I thought that after she had done all this she would return to me but she did not, and her unfaithful sister Judah saw it.

And I thought,‘ After she has done all this she will return to me,’ but she did not return, and her treacherous sister Judah saw it.

I thought,‘ After she has done all this, she will return to me.’ But she did not return, and her faithless sister Judah saw this.

I thought,‘ After she has done all these things, she will return to me.’ But she didn’t return, and her treacherous sister Judah saw it.

Yet I thought,‘ After she has done all these things she will return to Me’; but she did not return, and her treacherous sister Judah saw it.

And I said, after she had done all these things,‘ return to Me.’ But she did not return. And her treacherous sister Judah saw it.

And I said after she had done all these things, She will return unto me; but she returned not: and her treacherous sister Judah saw it.

I thought: After she has done all these things, she will return to Me. But she didn’t return, and her treacherous sister Judah saw it.

And I said after she had done all these[ things], Turn thou unto me. But she returned not. And her treacherous sister Judah saw[ it].

Yet even after she had done all that, I thought that she might come back to me. But she did not. Her sister, unfaithful Judah, saw what she did.

I said after she had done all these things,‘ She will return to me;’ but she didn’t return; and her treacherous sister Judah saw it.

Your older sister was Samaria. She lived north of you with her daughters. Your younger sister was Sodom. She lived south of you with her daughters.

Messengers went all through Israel and Judah. They carried letters from the king and his officials. The king had ordered them to do that. The letters said,“ People of Israel, return to the Lord. He is the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel. Return to him. Then he will return to you who are left in the land. You have escaped from the power of the kings of Assyria.Don’t be like your parents and the rest of your people. They weren’t faithful to the Lord, the God of their people. That’s why he punished them. He made them look so bad that everyone was shocked when they saw them. You can see it for yourselves.Don’t be stubborn. Don’t be as your people were. Obey the Lord. Come to his temple. He has set it apart to himself forever. Serve the Lord your God. Then he’ll stop being angry with you.Suppose you return to the Lord. Then those who captured your relatives and children will be kind to them. In fact, your relatives and children will come back to this land. The Lord your God is kind and tender. He won’t turn away from you if you return to him.”The messengers went from town to town in Ephraim and Manasseh. They went all the way to Zebulun. But people laughed and made fun of them.In spite of that, some people from Asher, Manasseh and Zebulun made themselves humble. They went to Jerusalem.God helped the people of Judah. He helped them agree with one another. So they did what the king and his officials had ordered. They did what the Lord told them to do.

The Lord warned Israel and Judah through all his prophets and seers. He said,“ Turn from your evil ways. Keep my commands and rules. Obey every part of my Law. I commanded your people who lived long ago to obey it. And I gave it to you through my servants the prophets.”But the people wouldn’t listen. They were as stubborn as their people of long ago had been. Those people didn’t trust in the Lord their God.

The people say,“ Come. Let us return to the Lord. He has torn us to pieces. But he will heal us. He has wounded us. But he’ll bandage our wounds.After two days he will give us new life. On the third day he’ll make us like new again. Then we will enjoy his blessing.Let’s recognize him as the Lord. Let’s keep trying to know him. You can be sure the sun will rise. And you can be just as sure the Lord will appear. He will come to renew us like the winter rains. He will be like the spring rains that water the earth.”The Lord says,“ Ephraim, what can I do with you? And what can I do with you, Judah? Your love for me vanishes like the morning mist. It soon disappears like the early dew.

Israel, return to the Lord your God. Your sins have destroyed you!

I gave Israel their letter of divorce. I sent them away because they were unfaithful to me so many times. But I saw that their sister nation Judah did not have any respect for me. They were not faithful to me either. They also went out and committed adultery with other gods.Israel was not faithful to me, but that did not bother them at all. They made the land‘ unclean.’ They worshiped gods that were made out of stone and wood.In spite of all this, their sister nation Judah did not come back to me. They were not faithful to me either. They did not return with all their heart. They only pretended to,” announces the Lord.The Lord said to me,“ Israel and Judah have not been faithful to me. But Israel was not as bad as Judah was.

“ Son of man, once there were two women. They had the same mother.They became prostitutes in Egypt. They have been unfaithful to me since they were young. In that land they allowed their breasts to be touched. They permitted their virgin breasts to be kissed.The older sister was named Oholah. The younger one was Oholibah. They belonged to me. Sons and daughters were born to them. Oholah stands for Samaria. And Oholibah stands for Jerusalem.